Calochortus and Ambition

 "A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisify ambitions or to 

or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them." 

                                                                                                Liberty Hyde Bailey

Calochortus venustus

I said I would try to get another post in with the Calochortus and since I needed a break from setting up for the garden tour this weekend. I thought I would sit for a minute, hydrate and post. If you are wondering what happened to the bees, I'm proud to say I dissapointed a bunch of cell phone filming papparazi and did not come crashing to the ground with 40 lbs of bees on my head. The bees are safe in a new hive out past the greenhouse by the berry patch where the Marion berries, Triple Crowns and Blackcaps will no doubt appreciate their presence. This looks to be a super productive hive. 

Productive lil buggers had already drawn some nice comb in the couple days they spent in a nuk box.

This is the bees up in the oak tree, I found out later they had been there all weekend, so I was pretty lucky to have been able to get this capture. 

Calochortus luteus 

If you are wondering to yourself, why did he decide to go all in on the nursery business now? Amid the still raging global pandemic, on the brink of world war III, with inflation at an all time high and the supply chain still figuring out how global economy works. That is a very valid question. 

Calochortus amabalis, just finishing up if you are into phenology. 
The other two are just starting, diversity is key to having a long bloom period with almost any genus there is variation in bloom time, even given all the same environmental conditions. 

Why now? Well I had actually moved to Salem right before the great recession of the mid 2000's with the intention of opening my dream nursery, a classical alpine, rock garden nursery with a great bulb offering to top it off. I had been growing alpines and rock garden plants ever since I was the propagator at the Berry Botanic Garden and had quite the stock collection going. But like always happens, life got in the way. Divorce forced me to become a single father, the economy of raising a child meant working full time for the gubmint, which I have written at length about here so no need to rehash. At the same time there were a few folks growing alpines around the area that could dedicate 100% of there time to it so I decided to just focus on the bulbs and not try to compete where I wouldn't be able to give it my all. 

C. superbus

Nurseries are much like the plants in the quote above, it takes a lot of effort to make them work, and I didn't have the time until now. As it happens, Painted wings and Giants rings make way for other toys, little girls become adults with ambitions of there own, and parents become empty nesters. Nursery owners get older and focus sometimes turns to other other things. But, time has come. It's my turn to make a go of it and I'm gonna give it my all. It might take a bit to get it all lined up like I want, but if it's as good as the bulbs have been to me then I'll be just fine. 

I super appreciate the few nurseries I've visited in the last few weeks who have offered cuttings and plants so that there legacy can live on. As well as the friends in the rock garden society who have promised starts to get me on the way.  I'm proud to take on the task. This may be one of the last few blog entries in this format before I transition over the website and new format. So I thought I would just get the brief story of why I waited so long, it wasn't by choice but by happenstance and circumstance. If it had been up to me, I'd be 20 years into this Alpine Rock garden nursery by now. I only wish old Jack Poff could be around to see what it's gonna become. Maybe like ole Yoda, Annakin, Obi Wan and Qui gon Jinn he is somehwere smiling that his legacy gets to live on. 

Rain on the way, but a couple of nice sunny days made all the difference. 

Mark

The last Jedi

 "The greatest teacher, failure is"

                                    Yoda

Oy Vey, It's been a minute since I've written and the whirl wind of this spring isn't letting up much. I've been knee deep in a nursery expansion project, up to my neck in teaching horticulture at the community college and feeling a bit underwater in life in general. As we know from the last posts, when it rains it pours. On top of all that, I have an open house/plant sale for the local rock garden society chapter coming up that I have to get plants labeled for and just when I thought I was getting a minute to breathe after a productive weekend. My phone lights up at 8:00 am saying there is a bee swarm in a local park and could I come and get it. 

The Calochortus are starting into bloom well now. This C. superbus
Sandwiched itself  in between some Albuca spiralis blossoms for support. 

So I found myself 10' up a ladder, knees shaking slightly, a crowd of onlookers gathering, and myself scooping 1000 buzzing honey bees into a nuke box, balanced precariously at the top of a ladder. And I'm thinking to myself, you have to do whatever it takes to make it in this world. Just like the bees leaving the comfort of an established hive, I'm venturing out to find a better stake in life.

               The propagation is the fun part, its the selling that can be tricky. 

I've been propagating a lot of alpines and rock garden plants 
for the new nursery expansion project. 

So as I've seen a lot of great nurseries close down the last few years, I'm thinking if I don't do it now, when will I do it. It's like the old saying you never know when your last___________. Fill in the blank. Will be. 

A visit to Jane McGary's bulb house is always humbling.
This time the master showed the apprentice how to do Alstromerias as
her specimen of A. pulchra was stunning in full bloom. 

So as I'm strapping a box full of now very angry honeybees into the crotch of a Gary Oak tree, suspended over a playground, in full bee suit on the warmest morning of the year so far. I'm thinking, you got this man, you are on the right path.  I had a buddy pass away last week, that I had known since the first grade, and while we weren't close these past years as adulthood took us to far different places. I couldn't help but think of how close we all are to mortality that if given the opportunity to live a dream, you better take it. No matter what the risk involved. 

Believe me, my dream is not to hang precariously on a ladder collecting angry honey bees, with a crowd watching and filming, thinking certainly they have the next $10,000 winning video in America's funniest video's if it goes horribly wrong for me. But chasing dreams and the freedom to be my own boss has always been in my DNA and it's slowly and painstakingly becoming a reality. As I watch the last of the Jedi masters of alpine plant propagation slowly fade away to retirement. I think it's finally my turn to  do this and do it with all the passion I've been saving in case the chance ever came that I got to. Of course, as I moved pile after pile of rock and mulch in the wheelbarrow all weekend, I was thinking I wish I had just done this years ago when I had even more energy. But maybe it's the natural progression of things to have to wait until you've matured a bit and when the opportunity is right, you make a go of it and you give it your all. Failure is not an option here as I've pretty much gone all in at this point. 

Edrianthus just starting to  open in the rock garden. 

To that end, the website should be up soon. I'll be doing mailorder bulb sales as well as Alpines, Rock Garden plants and Choice Xeric species under the new moniker illahe Rare Plants. It's been a lifetime of lessons, some with the teaching's of failure written all over them to get me to this point. I'm thankful for all the jedi masters who came before and took the time to impart knowledge and skills so that this craft can be passed on. I hope that when my time comes, I've passed it on as well so that our gardens stay rich and diverse. 

The plan is to have the summer catalog out via PDF on the new website, I'll have to migrate this blog over to something new and that might be a different handle. I'll be sure to update everyone on the happenings as it unfolds. I may try to sneak a few more posts in to share the soon to be heavy Calochortus bloom but with all the piles of work I have to do to make dreams a reality the blog is at the lower end of the priority list. 

P.S. send me cuttings of those choice Alpine and Rock Garden plants you want to see live on, there is no reason to let them fade away as every year it gets harder and harder to get the choice things. 

Sunny and highs in the 70's. Finally!

Mark

The Calochortus and Alliums of May

 “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

George Bernard Shaw

Unfortunately lot's of unreasonable people exist in this world. And this is probably why I feel we are going backwards from zero. I did however say I was going to make this blog more positive moving forward from the last four years, so I will digress on the matter. George Bernard Shaw does have a lot to say about adaptability and change though. He kinda reminds me of an international Mark Twain, such a great way of stating blunt observations about humanity, and I feel both of them had certainly no faith in the institution of humanity, as probably any one who observes it and writes about it must eventually end up at that conclusion. I have been thinking a lot about adaptability and change lately. Just with a lot of circumstances in life that have been thrown my way lately, change and the adaptations that come with it are a necessity.  It's really a trait that makes the strong survive. Darwin definitely wrote a lot about that and the science proves it. 

On to the flowers, the Calochortus collection is on now, and a few nice alliums from the western US that add some nice late season color to the rock garden. I'll finish with some observations on what appears to be carnivory in a choice little monkey flower I have growing in with the Dionaea's. 

Calochortus vestae
The goddess mariposa from the Northern California coast ranges, is a dynamite show stopper in the transition from spring to summer. 

Allium falcifolium
An Alplains collection (30054.34) from West facing serpentine slopes in Josephine County Oregon,  looks great in the rock garden.

Calochortus luteus 
This one is a standout bloomer, loads of blossoms per stem. 

Mimulus tricolor
This has been one of the monkeyflowers on my list for a long, long time, I actually put it up there right next to M. rupicola as one that I had to have. This little charmer inhabits vernal pools, it's quite rare in the Valley, but I did often look for it in my days as a wetlands restoration specialist.  

One of the things I found super interesting as I was inspecting this plant, is that it's loaded with sticky glands every bit as many as any drosera i've ever seen. In the greenhouse, I grow this in water tray alongside Dionaea muscipula, maybe it's the attraction to the flytraps that is drawing them in but the stems of this sticky sundew like monkeyflower is loaded with fungus gnats and little microbugs as if it's full on making a meal of these critters. 

Scotty Fairchild the legendary propagator who spent a long career at the Leach Botanical garden introduced this Allium into our gardens. The name has always been speculated at, but it's looking dynamite this year growing under a purple Elderbery, 

Allium siskiyouense 
Another wonderful alplains collection, (76476.41) this one is described as a higher elevation, dwarfer version of A. falcifolium, it definitely stays true to form, only topping out at 4" tall in the rock garden. From 6000' in the Northern California Siskiyou's. 

A little bit of rain back this week has been wonderful, it was a crazy warm spell, that seems to have gone on for weeks. The ground is still pretty dry but hopefully we get a few more showers this week to really soak things in.  Highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's. 

Mark

"Never make your home in a place"

"Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey." Tad Williams

My parents spent a lot of time traveling throughout our childhood, they took us to the the eastern bloc and third world, something they continue to this day. It gave me an appreciation and a world view that is far broader than what it might have been if I had stayed in this little corner of Oregon's Willamette Valley my whole life. The memories from those childhood travels will be with me forever. 

Mystery Bulb in the Greenhouse

Friends, some have come and gone and some have stayed right by my side through the years. The ones you can trust are the ones that matter most. Human nature is regressing, or perhaps never was really good to begin with, and is only sliding backwards from zero, but when you find a solid friend you can trust you keep that one in your life.

Another Mystery bulb?

Love of learning is something that I wasn't born with. I hated high school and it's been interesting to watch my daughter as she finishes her senior year and preps for the University years. She loves the learning and won't even skip a single day of class. I wanted out of high school so bad,  I never challenged myself at all. I was lucky to have been gifted with the ability to read and retain at a high level. Stuff I found interesting stuck, and whatever didn't was cast aside. But it was a botany class at a local community college and a blue haired, grandmother lady who had to be well into her late 70's as a professor that taught me how to key out native plants using the Gilkey and Dennis. That unlocked a passion for learning that never stopped and actually continues to grow to this day. Something clicked in that class that combined a bit of science, analysis, mathematics, reading, observing and art that all came together to unlock a passion for science and learning that just won't stop in me. I can't remember her name but I think about her every day as I realize what an amazing journey she sent me on.  

One of the mystery bulbs, I thought maybe a Sparaxis or ixia?

The other such things part of the quote above could really be anything, and you don't want to get me started on the 'other such things' that take up space in my head. Suffice it to say it's a full place, Maria kando would not approve of such clutter that one can put in a place they call home, but my head is full of it, although the little anecdotes, appreciations, observations, all these memories that never stop filling that void, don't seem to be clutter, but more like grains of sand that one can't count. 

Calochortus season is just beginning stay tuned for a fun ride on this one, I've been starting mad seeds of these beauties.

A bunch of the flower bulbs photo's on this post are from a wonderful offering that a member of the Pacific Bulb Society put up entitled Mystery Bulbs, it's been so fun to watch them come into bloom and try to figure them out. I don't have great resources in print form to the South African flora, but I'm hoping someday I'll get to visit and see these native treasures in the habitat they occupy on this big ball of water and molten iron we spin across the universe on everyday. 

Moraea bellendenii

New chapters coming in this book I call life, on to new adventures and time to make new friends and cherish the memories of the experiences I have made through these 44 years. It's been a pretty good ride so far and It seems to only be getting to the part of the roller coaster where we are about to plunge into the exciting loops and spins, the climb has been fantastic and the view from my perspective has been incredible. 

I cut the mop top off, but for documentation sakes, this is what a year and a half of the covid 19 Pandemic did to my hair do. 

Stupid amounts of sun and dry weather for an April in Oregon. Bad juju probably brewing for the summer and fire season, the sun worshipers no doubt rejoice and the climatologists cringe. The flower grower in me wonders when will the  well will run dry?

And the journey continues..........

Mark

June..........oh June, you used to be a summer started.

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt

I'm still here, although somewhat stunned, shocked, baffled, disheartened, enraged, and engaged in what it is going on in the country right now. I could fill pages and pages with discourse on the murder of American citizens by Police, unleashing the Army on it's own populace, the rise of a racist and fascist leadership in America, white supremicists patrolling the streets of my own home town with assault rifles and all the hell that is breaking loose coming with it. If you don't know where I stand at this point politically then please thumb back a few pages in this blog and figure it out. If any of my standpoints offend you then I have made sure to do my bit to speak my mind. I recognize how privileged I am to have been able to get an education, find gainful employment doing what I love and even start an independant small business without facing racism and discrimination that could have made all my dreams impossible. Take a minute, no take all the time you need to process your own privilege and then think about how you can be active in making sure other people get the same opportunities we did. If you are reading this there is a chance you have some disposable income to spend on flower bulbs, so that means you likely made the most of the opportunities that were given to you. Lets all start to think about how we can use our privilege to give opportunities to others who have been less fortunate then us. 

There are flowers in the garden, seems almost silly to be talking about them as our country descends into chaos but I had to get a June post in between attending protests and planning the overthrow of the Nazi regime currently seated in the White House. 

The calochortus look great in the rock garden

The rock garden is really starting to come into it's own at illahe

The marks on the ground are the addition to the rock garden at illahe, It's actually done now and we added a succulent bed, with a road punching through to the RV rental campground that we rent out to hiker/bikers/

Some years ago, Rick Lupp donated a bunch of plants to a Norman Singer Endowment funded Sensory Rock garden project at the Oregon School for the blind, I asked Rick if he could put together a collection of Alpines that the blind and visually impaired could "feel" there way through a mountain top. That garden was eventually bulldozed for development and the blind kids kicked out on the street by the State of Oregon. This is a rescued Dianthus from that project, and thank goodness for kind hearted people like Rick who would give to those who have less. For a while at least some kids who may never get a chance to botanize above the treeline got to experience that. Lets make opportunities for those that are less fortunate then us. 

A marguerite daisy in the rock garden at illahe. This was a chance seedling by a local grower who was sowing clear white marguerites but ended up with this lovely pink form. I propagated a bunch of them overwinter and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Maybe I really run a nursery business not to sell flower bulbs but to be able to have a forum where political dissent can be featured. The flowers just make it all possible. 

The weather is wet

Mark

The May Garden

“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live 'em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give 'em.”

― Shel Silverstein

These days are just packed, despite having no resturants, movie theaters or bars to visit, the boat launches mostly closed so I can't go fishing. I somehow have managed to fill about every minute of every day with something to keep me busy. Lot's of work in the garden lately, as I'm doing an extra big vegetable garden planting this year. I had noticed over the past few years it had gotten progressively smaller and smaller until it seemed to balance out the needs of the two individuals that live at illahe most of the time. But this seems like a time to have a good supply of food on hand so the planting season has been a busy one. There are flowers as well, and I finally managed a quick walk around the garden and greenhouse with the camera on a lazy sunday afternoon that alternated between sun breaks and thunderstorns. 

The Calochortus season has begun

The Rock garden has really been a lovely respite through the "social distancing days"

Allium unifolium 'Wayne Roderick' and Cammassia cusickii in the fading light.

Calochortus luteus

Townsendia's have always delighted me, I grew some in pots plunged in a sand bed this year. I really wish I had more time to do the alpines I love justice. 

The last of the Fritillaria to bloom out in the raised beds, F. biflora grayana

The Calochortus are like paintings, lovely paintings done in natures hues.

Cypella, I've been doing more subtropicals on the patio during the summer and overwintering them in an unheated shop or the greenhouse, and this one is a fun long season bloomer. 

The iris collection is expanding every year. I think the Dutch call this 'Eye of Tiger'

I have sworn that I finally identified this Iris that was growing neglected in a corner of the yard at our first house on Tolman St. in Portland as Iris ensata 'great white heron'. But the foliage is more like a bearded then a Japanese. Whatever it is I have propagated thousands of them and put them everywhere for the lovely fragrant hankerchief sized flowers. 

Iris douglasiana one of our wonderful native species that grows so well with so little care.

Looks to be a wet week ahead, as soggy sneakers were to be had after a morning walk to check the greenhouse. Good for the plants though as I don't really like to start irrigating anything if I don't have to until well into June.

Cheers,

Mark

Calochortus clavatus var. clavatus

“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” John Keats

Calochortus clavatus var. clavatus

Keats wrote that in a love letter to his fiance, Fanny Brawne, but he died 3 years after the engagment, and before they could receive the consent of Fanny's Mother, to wed, apparently she didn't approve of Keats..........I guess a poet was too much of a risk back in those days. You don't want to end up being "a liability to someones career", I guess. Such a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions really.

I was following a posting on the PBS discussion emails about late blooming Calochortus. The C. clavatus var. clavatus above is the last to bloom for me. Now comes the season of the summer Gladiolous and Acidanthera. C. clavatus var. clavatus hails from the coastal and valley foothills of Southern California. Were one to take that iconic trip up Mullholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains above Los Angeles you could encounter this variety growing along the roadside. This is one of the drier clime species for sure, with the average annual rainfall in it's type local hitting somewhere around 13" per year. The average lows it sees are pretty mild as well, it's been down into the 20's for me, but would likely seldom if ever see this type of a low in the wild. I haven't noticed any pollinators on this one yet, but I sure do hope it sets seed.

Catalog out sometime in Early August.

We are locked into our typical modified meditteranean summer now, highs in the 80's, comfortably cool at night, dew still on the grass in the morning.

Cheers,

mark